Monday, July 31, 2017

I love going to museums and admiring some of my favorite artists and discovering new ones too! My goal for this year was to visit a different art exhibit every month and get inspired by different artist and interpret my favorite pieces in my own style just for fun. I don't know about you but every time I go to a museum I want to run home and paint or make something, so this idea was about actually holding myself accountable to do something with that excitement. Obviously it's the end of July, and I'm a little late in starting this series for the year but better late than never :)

I'll be honest, extreme stress affected my creativity and I lost my energy and passion for a while. I was definitely going through a dry spell and a creative block for months on end. If you go through this, I encourage you not to give up and keep drawing or doing your thing even if it's repetitive, boring, or what you think is not your best work. You never know what will come from a silly idea, random concept or mistake :)

I love going to the Kimbell Museum because they always have the best Impressionist exhibits which I love! The exhibit I saw was from the Phillips Collection, which including Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Bonnard just to name a few. I had never heard of Pierre Bonnard but I quickly fell for his dreamy brush strokes.

The Palm, Woman with Dog and The Open Window all by Bonnard

This orange Degas was stunning, I love the contrast of the background with light blue dancers

I knew immediately I wanted to start my "Inspired by" project with this piece in mind.

I love bright colors so this was a no brainer. I added some bright coral to the original palette and I really love how Degas seemed to "sketch" with black paint the details of the body and I went a little crazy with the black accents but I'm ok with that :)

I kinda wanted to do a traditional medium but I started playing on my iPad instead. I really love procreate because the paintbrushes and other tools are so life-like in appearance. It's instant gratification without the mess and effort of actual paint and I'm all about getting started as soon as possible!

closeup collage :P

What's your favorite type of art? Where do you get inspiration? Do you have a "go to" place? I love hearing about other people's interests and techniques :)

Thursday, July 13, 2017

I'm not much of a girly girl but I am sucker for a floral print. Most of my favorite clothes have some kind of floral or abstract pattern. Unfortunately for me flowers are hard to draw, I have tried for years to come up with shapes and details that don't look to cartoony only to come up with unsatisfying results. But now I've finally made progress worth celebrating!
As some of you know when drawing a pattern you start with a focal point
and then add in smaller bits to fill around to create a repeat. This is a
focal point I'm finally happy with.

Here is the repeat print with different flowers, bees and humming birds added in.

What's funny about this whole process is I used a different drawing app for this project. Procreate is a favorite for painterly effects and I often use it in abstract pieces but not usually when I'm making a repeat pattern that's where Adobe Illustrator's pattern making tool shines- but there's a first time for everything!

I'm really excited to experiment further and make better patterns to list in my society6 shop and maybe get some fabric printed - the possibilities are endless with a floral print!
What's your favorite go to print to wear and have in your everyday? I don't know about you but florals always make me happy! :)

Friday, June 30, 2017

Hello again, it's been a crazy year and I've missed blogging so I'm getting back into the swing of things with this home decor roundup. I don't know about you but whenever Target starts putting out the college dorm stuff I get pretty excited! They usually have great prints in everyday items that add a little pop of color into your day. I've been wanting to update some things around the house- so here's what's on my wishlist.